Malaysia’s Islamic airline flies high

The short domestic flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s biggest city, begins with a recital of supplication before the travel. The passengers – most of them Muslims – cup their hands, as a crew member reads a short prayer over the loudspeaker just before takeoff. Malaysia’s Rayani Air took to the skies over the weekend with […]

The short domestic flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s biggest city, begins with a recital of supplication before the travel.
The passengers – most of them Muslims – cup their hands, as a crew member reads a short prayer over the loudspeaker just before takeoff.
Malaysia’s Rayani Air took to the skies over the weekend with a clear bailiwick. It is the country’s first Islamic airline, offering flights that adhere to Islamic rules, including prayers, no serving of alcohol or meals with pork, and an Islamic dress code for Muslim female flight attendants.
The idea for Rayani Air grew out of much-publicized complaints by Muslims who believed that two major air disasters for the national Malaysia Airlines – Flight 370 that went missing in March 2014 and Flight 17 downed a few months later over Ukraine – were caused by Allah’s wrath. Their solution: Airlines must adopt Islamic customs to avoid divine retribution.